Alan Mackenzie Photography

Until recently, I've never been able to enter a forest in winter and not grieve over the absence of leaf cover. A dormant forest has never felt life-affirming to me. The coming of March has given me the time to confront and re-evaluate this life-long avoidance of leafless woods. Friston Forest looked quite beautiful on a hazy, mild and sunny March afternoon.

It's February 2015 and starling numbers at Brighton Pier are at their highest for years. I estimate 60,000 - 75,000 birds gather every evening. The murmurations last for ages - 30 minutes of continuous action. In what could be my last starling post of the winter, I have opted for quality over quantity. Here are four creative and very different photographs.

Brighton's Royal Pavilion is a familiar and well-photographed landmark in the city. Strong subjects can often stifle innovation and creativity. I like to make an extra effort to turn a beautiful, interesting subject into an equally captivating photograph. Trying to be different can lead to over-thinking and images devoid of feeling and beauty. In an effort to escape conventions, photographers can become conservatively unconventional. I prefer to go with my feelings at the time, while still creating something fresh and exciting. An adjacent Art-Deco bus shelter, the motion blur from traffic and a blue-magenta twilight afterglow all came together to help create three varied and unique images. The permanent, semi-permanent and transient all sum up Brighton.

You may have seen these on Flickr , but this eclectic selection of photographs have never featured on www.alanmackenziephotography.com. They include Roe deer on the Sussex Weald, South Downs poppies, Brighton starling murmurations and Beachy Head.

The sun dipped below the horizon, just as the monthly spring tide revealed Brighton's hidden sandy beach. Sunsets often initially disappoint, as was the case, but within 15 minutes, an afterglow enveloped Brighton beach in hues of purple-magenta. I had come down to photograph the starling murmurations, but struggled once again to capture anything fresh and exciting. Perhaps I've done all I can for now. I miss photographing people. Sometimes one's most creative work is accomplished after a prolonged break.       

I certainly manage to get about for someone reliant on public transport. With the heavyweight Canon 500mm and 300mm lenses on my back, I certainly have no need for a gym subscription. Trains to Crawley, Horsham and Arundel and buses along to coast road to Friston Forest and Beachy Head mean I am well served with opportunities to visit beautiful and interesting locations. 2014 began mild, wet and windy. We enjoyed good weather in spring and high temperatures over July, peaking at about 28 °C. Autumn lasted from September to early December, with one day in late October reaching 23 °C. Climate change and increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide mean that trees can remain in leaf far longer than they could in the past. Some parts of Friston Forest were still nearly 100% green on 20th November. A friend recently commented that my work is more focussed and settled than it was a few years ago. Creative blocks are a thing of the past, because I've learned to accept the mood I a...

Every autumn, starlings migrate to the British Isles to escape the harsh Scandinavian winter. Some of these birds (about 40,000) spend the winter in parks, gardens and farmland around Brighton and Hove. In late afternoon, they fly to Brighton Pier, where they gather in fluid-like murmurations, before roosting for the night underneath the pier structure. It is thought that starlings began using Brighton Pier (and formerly the West Pier) to roost after the Great Storm of 1987, when gusts of 115mph felled millions of trees across Sussex.  Although no-one knows exactly why starlings form murmurations, it is thought to be a multi-purpose behaviour. Starlings benefit from safety in numbers and generate collective body heat to survive the night ahead. Each bird shadows seven of its neighbours, which accounts for why murmurations can rapidly change shape, speed and direction. Should a bird of prey attempt to intercept a murmuration, it will usually pass straight through, because it onl...